Skip to main content
Before staff write learning plans, set up two things in Settings > Learning Plans: the plan format every plan is written under, and the assessment grids that targets are drawn from. You can also set your school’s review points, so review dates are suggested for you, and how sharing with parents works by default. You only need to do this once, and you can upload the documents your school already uses instead of typing them in.
Setting the plan format and managing assessment grids requires the Owner, DSL or Deputy DSL role. Other staff can view the grids.

​
The plan format

The plan format is the list of sections every learning plan is written under, in order — for example Reasonable adjustments and What you need to know about me. Each section has a heading and, optionally, a short note saying what goes in it. When staff draft a plan with AI, it writes each section by following that note. Your school has one plan format, so every plan looks the same and parents always see the same layout.
You do not need sections for targets, pupil views or parent views. Every learning plan already has those.
The Plan format tab in Settings, Learning Plans, showing two sections with headings and guidance, the targets each cycle setting, and the Copy from an existing plan button highlighted

​
Copy the format from one of your existing plans

The quickest way to set up the format is to upload a learning plan your school already uses.
1

Open the plan format

Go to Settings > Learning Plans and stay on the Plan format tab.
2

Upload an existing plan

Click Copy from an existing plan (.docx) and choose one of your school’s ILPs as a Word document.Signal reads the document’s sections and writes a note for each describing what it holds, plus how many targets each cycle has. It leaves out the parts every plan already has — the pupil’s details, pupil and parent views, and the targets table — and never copies anything about the pupil in the example.
3

Check and save

Check the headings and notes, change any you need to, and click Save plan format.
The uploaded file is read and then discarded — it is not stored in Signal. You can use any real plan as the example.

​
Edit the format by hand

  • Click Add section to add a heading, and type what should go in it underneath.
  • Use the up and down arrows to reorder sections, and the cross to remove one.
  • Targets each cycle sets how many targets the AI drafts for a new plan. Staff can always add or remove targets.
Click Save plan format when you are done. Changes apply to plans written from then on; existing plans keep the text they already have. If your school has no format yet, the tab offers Use the default format — a set of sections based on the SEND Code of Practice — or the upload described above.

​
Assessment grids

An assessment grid lists the objectives pupils in one year group work on at each attainment band, for one subject. For example, the Year 4 Writing grid might list what a pupil working towards the expected standard (WTS), at the expected standard (EXS) and at greater depth (GDS) should be able to do. When staff write a plan, they record the band the pupil is working at, and targets are drawn from the objectives at that band and the next one up. Add one grid per subject and year group.
The Assessment grids tab showing the Writing grids for Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6, each with its bands and number of objectives
The bands are your school’s own scheme, so name them however you assess. Each grid has its own bands because they can differ by year — a Year 1 grid has no band for objectives carried over from earlier years, for example.

​
Add a grid from a Word document or Excel workbook

1

Start a new grid

Go to Settings > Learning Plans, open the Assessment grids tab and click Add Grid.
2

Upload your grid

On the Details tab, click Upload grid (Word or Excel) and choose the file.Signal reads the grid’s name, subject, year group, bands and objectives. It works out the year group from the document’s title, a heading, the sheet name or the file name — so “Writing moderation Y4.docx” becomes a Year 4 Writing grid.
The Add assessment grid sheet after uploading a Year 6 grid, with the upload area highlighted and the year group, subject, name and bands filled in
3

Check the objectives

Open the Objectives tab. Each objective sits under the band it belongs to. Edit any line, add one with Add line, or remove one with the cross.
The Objectives tab of the grid sheet, showing the WTS band highlighted with its objectives listed beneath it
4

Create the grid

Click Create grid. Nothing is saved until you do.
If your grids are in one Excel workbook with a sheet per year group, upload the workbook once. Signal adds a grid for each year and shows them as tabs at the top of the sheet. Remove any year you do not want, then click Create 2 grids (the button shows how many) to add them all together.
Signal handles grids laid out with the bands as rows (a band heading followed by its objectives) or as columns (one column per band). If a document is in an older format, open it and use Save As to create a .docx or .xlsx file first.

​
Add a grid by hand

Click Add Grid, then on the Details tab choose the Year group and enter the Subject and Name. Signal starts you with the bands NN, WTS, EXS and GDS — rename, reorder or remove them to match your scheme. Then add the objectives on the Objectives tab and click Create grid.

​
Edit a grid

Click Edit grid next to it. You can change any detail, band or objective and save them all with Save grid. To replace a grid’s objectives with a newer version of the document, upload it on the Details tab. Signal asks before replacing what is there, and tells you if the document looks like it is for a different year group.
When you edit an objective, any learning plan target linked to it keeps its own wording. Unchanged objectives stay linked; an objective you change or remove is simply unlinked from the targets that used it.
A band cannot be removed while objectives or learning plans still use it. Move or remove its objectives first.

​
Remove a grid

Click the bin icon next to the grid. If no learning plans use it, it is deleted. If plans already use it, it is archived instead: those plans keep their targets, but the grid can no longer be chosen for new plans.

​
Review points

Schools hold their three termly reviews at different points in the year. Set yours on the Review points tab, and Signal suggests each plan’s next review date for you when a plan is written and at every review:
The Review points tab in Settings, Learning Plans, with End of terms 2, 4 and 6 selected and the Use our own term dates switch
The suggested date is the Friday a week before the half-term ends, so the meeting can happen before the break. It is always the next review point at least four weeks away, and it carries on into the next school year when it needs to. Staff can change the date on any plan. Signal knows the usual half-term dates in England. If yours are different, turn on Use our own term dates and enter the last day of each of the six half-terms for this school year. Your dates are used for that year only, and the usual dates for any other year.

​
Next steps

Creating a Learning Plan

Write a plan for a pupil and set their targets.

Learning Plans overview

How learning plans work and how they differ from action plans.